IN Episode 99, Two Big Egos In A Small Carculture podcasters Graham Chalmers and Charles Hutchinson ponder the way forward for news delivery with Sheffield Tribune arts writer Liz Ryan at the dawn of the substack.
Under discussion too are the community play 122 Love Stories at a ghostly Harrogate Theatre; Irish comedian Jason Byrne’s upcoming Unblocked tour show and Bob Dylan’s auction value as a one-off recording is sold as a “work of art”.
The Cure’s Robert Smith backstage, by Alison O’Neill, from her debut exhibition of 1980s’ music photos at City Screen, York. Copyright: Alison O’Neill
FROM The Cure’s Eighties’ photos to Ayckbourn’s lies, folk, riverside and walls festivals to folk’s future, Charles Hutchinson picks his highlights of the week ahead and beyond.
Exhibition launch of the week: Trapped In The Light, 1980s Music Photos by Alison O’Neill, Sky Lounge, City Screen Picturehouse, York, Sunday to September 10
ALISON O’Neill loved photographing The Cure, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Jesus & Mary Chain and The Cramps in the 1980s, but those black-and-white concert and backstage images have been in hibernation for more than three decades, never exhibited until now.
Why? “Shyness,” she says, but with the encouragement of a photographer friend in Berlin, she is letting those nocturnal photographic encounters see the light of day at last at City Screen.
Play of the week: Alan Ayckbourn’s All Lies, Esk Valley Theatre, Robinson Institute, Glaisdale, near Whitby, until August 27
When the little white lies start:Luke Dayhill and Saskia Strallen as the young couple in Alan Ayckbourn’s All Lies at Esk Valley Theatre. Picture: Steven Barber
FOLLOWING its initial run at the Old Laundry Theatre, Bowness-on-Windermere, in May, Esk Valley Theatre presents the world premiere production of writer-director Alan Ayckbourn’s 86th full-length play.
The setting is 1957/1958, when a when a chance meeting elicits love at first sight! The person of your dreams! But will they feel the same? Once you tell the truth about yourself, will you even be worthy of them? Do you take the plunge and reveal all? Or choose the dangerous alternative and tell them…All Lies?!
Questions, questions, so many Ayckbourn questions, in a play where it may be all lies but the truth is in there somewhere. Box office: 01947 897587.
Inside a tipi at the Boatyard York Festival
New festival of the week: The Boatyard York Summer Festival, Ferry Lane, Bishopthorpe, York, today, 11am to 7pm
THE Boatyard plays host to its first summer riverside festival this weekend, featuring live music from York bands and musicians, such as Up In Smoke, and an array of street food to suit meat eaters and vegetarians alike.
Organised by Eva Brindley, this family-orientated day promises a Punch & Judy show, face-painting, fare stalls and games, ping pong and volleyball, plus canoe, kayak and day boat hire. Look out for the Bosun’s Oven café, wood-fired pizzas and summery drinks from the horsebox bar. Dogs are welcome; entry is free.
Lewis Capaldi: Heading to the East Coast on Thursday
Outdoor gig of the week; Lewis Capaldi, supported by Wild Youth and Aine Deane, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Thursday, gates 6pm. CANCELLED
UPDATE: 10/8/2022
LEWIS Capaldi has pulled out of his August 11 gig at Scarborough Open Air Theatre. The reason? Illness.
Ticket holders will be reimbursed fully.
SCOTTISH singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi spent ten weeks at the top of the charts with his May 2019 debut album, Divinely Inspired To A Hellish Extent. Alas, the wait goes on for the follow-up, and all the while you will find such questions as “Is Lewis Capaldi quitting?” and “What has happened to Lewis Capaldi” on the internet.
In July, the 25-year-old Glaswegian told his Latitude festival audience “I have no new music to play you”, calling himself “horribly lazy” when faced with “needing to finish my new album”. Looks like you will have to make do with Before You Go, Grace, Hollywood, Bruises et al once more on Thursday; the heartbeat of his first visit to Scarborough OAT in 2019 . Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Much ado about Nothing & Everything Else…and Z Is For Zelda at Theatre@41
Double bill of the week: Black Sheep Theatre in Nothing & Everything Else/Z Is For Zelda, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, August 10 to 13, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
SHOWCASING the work of playwright and director Bethany Shilling, the first play is an offbeat comedy about a young woman performing at her very first stand-up comedy open-mic night where she uses the time to check in with herself mentally.
The second is an attempt by Zelda Fitzgerald to share her life story. In doing so, she flits between her polished, performed self and the obscure ramblings that consume her mind. Is she mad or is this the final act of Zelda’s undeniable character? Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Seth Lakeman: Next Saturday’s main-stage headliner at The Magpies Festival. Picture: Tom Griffiths
Folk festival of the week: The Magpies Festival, Sutton Park, Sutton-on-the-Forest, near York, August 12, music from 6pm; August 13, music from 12.30pm
THE Magpies Festival has expanded from one day at last summer’s inaugural event to two in 2022, hosted again by The Magpies’ transatlantic folk trio of Bella Gaffney, Kate Griffin and Holly Brandon, ahead of this autumn’s release of their new album, Undertow.
Next Friday’s line-up will be: Jaywalkers; Elanor Moss; John Smith; Chris Elliott & Caitlin Jones and headliners Rob Heron & The Tea Pad Orchestra. Next Saturday presents Honey & The Bear; Dan Webster Band; Katie Spencer; The People Versus; David Ward Maclean; The Jellyman’s Daughter; Rory Butler; The Magpies plus guests; The 309s; The Drystones and main-stage headliner Seth Lakeman. Look out too for the food market and craft fair. Box office: themagpiesfestival.co.uk/tickets
The poster for York Walls Festival 2022
Heritage event of the week: York Walls Festival 2022 Summer Weekend, August 13 and 14
THE Friends of York Walls will be partnering with York organisations and community groups to tell stories and promote “our shared community, history and heritage” next weekend.
The Friends look after the 500-year-old Fishergate Postern Tower on behalf of City of York Council and it is sure to feature in the festival, along with the Bar walls and Red Tower. For festival updates, head to: yorkwallsfestival.org.
Joshua Burnell & Band: Autumn tour takes in The Crescent in his home city of York. Picture: Elly Lucas
The future of folk: Joshua Burnell & Band, The Crescent, York, October 16, 8pm
JOSHUA Burnell & Band will play a home-city gig at The Crescent on his nine-date folk-fused baroque’n’roll autumn tour.
Multi-instrumentalist singer Burnell will be joined by globe-trotting violinist Frances Archer, guitarist Nathan Greaves, multi-instrumentalist Oliver Whitehouse, drummer Ed Simpson and vocalist Frances Sladen. “Think The War On Drugs meets Seth Lakeman on Ziggy Stardust’s spaceship,” he suggests. Tickets: joshuaburnell.co.uk/tour or ticketweb.co.uk.
Kristy Matheson: New creative director of Edinburgh International Film Festival
EDINBURGH International Film Festival marks its 75th anniversary with a return to a full programme from August 12 to 20 under the leadership of a new creative director.
Back in tandem with the Scottish capital’s myriad festivals this month, the world’s oldest continually running film festival presents 87 new features, 12 short film programmes and two retrospectives in a resumption of a full-on, in-person event after the restrictions and challenges of the pandemic.
Newly at the helm is Kristy Matheson, a creative director looking to make her mark as she follows a raft of artistic directors that established and grew Edinburgh International Film Festival’s global clout.
Among those who contributed to the festival’s long-running success since its foundation in 1947 were journalist and film critic Hannah McGill, artistic director from 2006 to 2010; Mark Cousins, who made a big impact in all-too-brief tenure from 1996 to 1997 before blossoming into an award-winning documentary filmmaker, and Jim Hickey, who steered a golden era from 1981 to 1988.
Before that came Linda Myles, who ran EIFF with remarkable success on a small budget from 1973 to 1980, when she was first woman to occupy such a role at any film festival worldwide.
Not only did she pioneer screenings of the cream of the “New Hollywood” filmmakers of the day, such as Martin Scorsese, but Myles also initiated reappraisals and new viewpoints, most notably “The Women’s Event”, organised in tandem with Claire Johnston and Laura Mulvey at the 1972 EIFF.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the women’s film festival presented by Myles to showcase films made by female directors. In recognition of this ground-breaking event, this summer’s EIFF will play host to Reframing The Gaze, a retrospective programme curated by Kim Knowles.
Kristy Matheson, previously director of film at Australia’s national museum of screen culture, ACMI, is thrilled to be propelling EIFF’s milestone anniversary year. “For our 75th anniversary, we’ve embraced the very essence of cinema: from its production to its exhibition, it’s a truly collective pursuit,” says the creative director.
“Working alongside a talented team of programmers and festival producers to craft our 2022 programme has been joyous. I look forward to welcoming audiences back to EIFF this August.”
The opening gala screening on August 12 will be a home-made product: Aftersun, the debut from Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells starring Normal People’s Paul Mescal, that heads homewards buoyed by prize-winning success at Cannes Film Festival.
Further highlights to note are Armağan Ballantyne’s comedy Nude Tuesday, picked for the inaugural Central Gala on August 16, and After Yang, an American metaphysical science-fiction drama written and directed by Kogonada, starring Colin Farrell and Jodi Turner-Smith in the closing gala on August 20.
Look out too for Peter Strickland’s latest work, Flux Gourmet, featuring Asa Butterfield and Gwendoline Christie in the darkly comic tale of a performance art trio participating in an artist residency at the Sonic Catering Institute.
Screenings will take place at the festival’s home on Lothian Road, the Filmhouse, the Cameo Picturehouse, Everyman Edinburgh and Vue Edinburgh Omni.
The second major retrospective will focus on the work of performer and film director Kinuyo Tanaka (1909-1977), who played a key role in the history of Japanese cinema.
Further recommendations are Still Working 9 To 5, a documentary wherein Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin reunite to investigate the fight for women’s rights they kickstarted half a decade ago, and Nothing Compares, Kathryn Ferguson’s documentary about iconoclastic Irish singer Sinead O’Connor.
Renowned for its commitment to internationalism and cultural engagement, EIFF embraces more than film screenings, taking in performances and industry dialogues too.
Presented as a special live performance, The Ballad Of A Great Disordered Heart is a new collaborative film by Lau folk musician Aidan O’Rourke, Becky Manson and former EIFF artistic director Mark Cousins about Edinburgh’s Old Town and the Irish communities who have called it home.
The 2022 festival sees the return of Film Fest In The City in St Andrew’s Square, where the open-air programme offers classics such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Shrek and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
This year’s programme has been brought together by a team of programmers led by Matheson, working alongside Manish Agarwal, Anna Bogutskaya, Rafa Sales Ross, Kate Taylor; animation programmer Abigail Addison; short film programmers Jenny Clarke (narrative) and Rohan Crickmar (non-fiction); black box programmer Lydia Beilby and retrospective curator (2022 Theme) Kim Knowles.
Edinburgh International Film Festival is supported by Screen Scotland; the PLACE Programme (a partnership between the Scottish Government, City of Edinburgh Council and the Edinburgh Festivals); the Scottish Government, through the Festivals Expo Fund and the PLACE Resilience Fund; City of Edinburgh Council; EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate, and the BFI Audience Fund, awarding National Lottery funding.
Two Big Egos In A Small Car culture vulture podcasters Graham Chalmers and Charles Hutchinson will preview the 2022 Edinburgh International Film Festival in the next episode before squeezing their egos into that compact automobile to head to Scotland next week.
Burning Duck Comedy Club presents Helen Bauer in Madam Good Tit at Theatre@41 in October
NEW partnerships, returning performers, comedy acts aplenty and community theatre regulars make up the autumn and winter season at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York.
One year on from throwing open its doors post-pandemic, the black-box studio will play host to Yorkshire and national companies and artists alike.
“We’re doing all right, whether by chance or design!” says chair Alan Park. “In the year since we took over the programming, there’s been a nice balance between comedy, music and theatre, with a focus on new writing, as well as continuing our relationships with York Stage, Pick Me Up Theatre, White Rose Theatre, York Settlement Community Players and York Musical Theatre Company.
“The mailing list has gone up from 40 to 2,000 and we feel that people are invested in the building, our charity status, the work we present, and want us to do well. There are plenty of people who run theatres, but we want to run a ‘movement’ and we think we’re getting there.”
Colin Hoult in The Death Of Anna Mann. Picture: Linda Blacker
Looking ahead to the new season, one new partnership finds Theatre@41 linking up with York promoter Al Greaves’s well-established Burning Duck Comedy Club, complementing his programme at The Crescent (and previously at The Basement at City Screen Picturehouse).
“Maggie Smales, one of our trustees, reached out to Al,” says Alan. “Initially, comedy promoters were contacting us directly, and we were doing maybe two comedy shows a season, but we got in touch with Al to say ‘we don’t want to tread on your toes, but we’d love to work with you’, and so now we have six shows this autumn through linking up with Al.”
Among those shows will be Lauren Pattinson’s It Is What It Is on September 16; Colin Hoult, from the Netflix series After Life, presenting The Death Of Anna Mann on October 8; the returning Olga Koch, star of her own BBC Radio 4 series, in Just Friends on October 15 and fellow Edinburgh Festival Fringe Best Newcomer nominee Helen Bauer’s Madam Good Tit, on October 22. Look out too for Taskmaster winner Sophie Duker next April.
Returning to Theatre@41 will be Dyad Productions, following up the sold-out I, Elizabeth with Christmas Gothic, adapted and performed by Rebecca Vaughan, on November 26 and 27, and Sarah-Louise Young, building on the sold-out success of Alan’s favourite show so far, An Evening Without Kate Bush, by presenting her charming yet cheeky West End and Off-Broadway cabaret hit Julie Madly Deeply, a tribute to Julie Andrews.
Sarah-Louise Young in her Julie Andrews tribute, Julie Madly Deeply. Picture: Steve Ullathorne
Further returnees will be East Riding company Other Lives Theatre Productions in Landmarks, Nick Darke’s environmentally topical story of a farming family feud, and Nunkie Theatre’s Robert Lloyd Parry with two more gripping MR James ghost stories by candlelight in Oh, Whistle on November 25.
“We’ve had a lot of good feedback from artists, such as Olga Koch’s agent,” says Alan. “We know there’s paint peeling off walls, the roof is leaking, but we believe in making the artists welcome, like giving them a little York Gin pack on arrival. We try to be a friendly venue where everyone will want to come back.”
Endorsements for Theatre@41 are spreading, leading to debut visits by Mark Farrelly in his Quentin Crisp show, Naked Hope, on September 7 and Olivier Award-winning actor and director Guy Masterson, staging his one-man adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol on November 24.
Seven York companies and performers are booked in. Robert Readman’s Pick Me Up Theatre will stage Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical Jr from September 23 to October 2 and The Sound Of Music from December 16 to 30 in the Christmas slot. York Settlement Community Players will perform Christopher Durang’s Tony Award-winning Broadway comedy Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike from November 3 to 5.
Rebecca Vaughan in Dyad Productions’ Christmas Gothic. Picture: Ben Guest
White Rose Theatre will deliver The Last Five Years, an emotionally charged musical full of upbeat numbers and beautiful ballads by Jason Robert Brown that tells the story of two lovers over the course of five years, with Cathy starting her tale at the end of the relationship and Jamie telling his story from the beginning. Directed by Claire Pulpher, it will run from November 9 to 12.
Barnstorming country-rock band The Rusty Pegs will play Rumours (Again!) in a 45th anniversary celebration of the Fleetwood Mac nugget on October 9, after giving Theatre@41’s re-launch gig post-Covid; Jessa Liversidge will sing Some Enchanted Sondheim on October 9, and York Musical Theatre Company will mark their 120th anniversary with A Musical Celebration on October 13 and 14.
Spookologist and ghost-botherer Doctor Dorian Deathly, a winner in the 2022 Visit York Tourism Awards, will make his Theatre@41 debut with his Halloween show, A Night Of Face Melting Horror!, from October 26 to 31.
“Each night, Dorian will be hot-footing over here after doing his Deathly Dark ghost tour for a cabaret evening with a bar of the dead and cocktails,” says Alan. “He came to us with the idea, and we thought, ‘yeah, let’s do it’. He has a huge following, so we’re delighted he wanted to come here.”
The horror! The horror” The poster for Doctor Dorian Deathly’s Halloween show, A Night Of Face Melting Horror!
Paul Birch, one of the stand-outs in York Theatre Royal’s Green Shoots showcase for new work in June, will bring his improv group, Foolish, to Theatre@41 for the third time. On September 15, he will host a night of ad-hoc comedy improvised from suggestions written in chalk on the stage floor under the title of Cobbled Together.
Seeking to foster a growing relationship with The Groves community, Theatre@41 will play host to the inaugural Groves Community Cinema: a weekend of classic films old and new right on residents’ doorsteps when visitors will be invited to “pay what you feel”, with support from an ARG Events and Festivals Grant in partnership with Make It York and City of York Council.
“Historically, we’re on the edge of The Groves, and maybe The Groves has never quite felt this is The Groves’ theatre, but we hope that putting on a community cinema weekend will make it feel more like it’s part of their community, rather than people just walking past our doors,” says Alan.
Olga Koch: Returning to Theatre@41 to present Just Friends
September 10 will offer Encanto Singalong at 2.30pm and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind at 6pm; September 11, Kes at 2.30pm and Nomadland at 6.30pm.
Three more new additions add to the sense of momentum at Theatre@41. Firstly, £5,000 funding from City of York Council and the Liz and Terry Bramall Foundation will ensure the lighting rig “no longer wobbles”; secondly, the theatre will resume being a polling station for elections.
Last, but not least, the Monkgate building will be turned into the rehearsal rooms for veteran dame Berwick Kaler’s Grand Opera House pantomime, Old Granny Goose. “We’re giving them multiple rooms, including the dance studio,” says Alan. “They’ll have the run of the building basically.”
For performance times and to book tickets for the new season, head to: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Copyright of The Press, York
Pantomime dame Berwick Kaler and daft-lad sidekick Martin Barrass will be rehearsing Old Granny Goose at Theatre@41 ahead of its run at the Grand Opera House, York
Fran Lebowitz: Opinions aplenty at Grand Opera House, York
CULTURE vultures Graham Chalmers and Charles Hutchinson mull over American writer and Netflix documentary acerbic wit Fran Lebowitz’s night with bite at the Grand Opera House, York, in Episode 98 of Two Big Egos In A Small Car.
Under discussion too are Steve Coogan and Hugh Grant talking politics, The Smile’s detour from Radiohead and the new Suicide compilation.
Bull : York band play Deer Shed Festival 12 on Sunday
MUSIC in meadows and parks, a Viking community play and Osmondmania revisited, knitting and a superstar by the sea are Charles Hutchinson’s alternatives to summer holiday queues at ports.
Festival of the weekend: Deer Shed Festival 12, Baldersby Park, Topcliffe, near Thirsk, today and tomorrow
DEER Shed Festival 12 takes the theme of Pocket Planet, “a celebration of different things from different planets”, spanning live music, DJ sets, comedy, science, Fringe and children’s shows, spoken word, films, sports, workshops and wellbeing.
John Grant, from Buchanan, Michigan, headlines the main stage tonight, preceded by a special guest set from Self Esteem, alias Rebecca Lucy Taylor, from Sheffield/Rotherham. Art-rock Londoners Django Django top Sunday’s bill, backed up by South London post-punk hipsters Dry Cleaning, while York’s ebullient Bull headline the Acorn Stage that night. For ticket details, head to: deershedfestival.com.
The Feeling: Headlining MeadowFest in Malton. Picture: Andy Hughes
The other festival at the weekend: MeadowFest, Talbot Hotel gardens and riverside meadows, Malton, today, 10am to 10pm
MALTON’S boutique midsummer music festival, MeadowFest, welcomes headliners The Feeling, Alistair Griffin, New York Brass Band, Huge and Hyde Family Jam to the main stage.
Performing on the Hay Bale Stage will be Flatcap Carnival, Ross McWhirter, Simon Snaize, George Rowell, Maggie Wakeling, Nick Rooke, The Twisty Turns and Graeme Hargreaves.
Children’s entertainment, inflatables, fairground rides, street food and a festival bar are further attractions. Bring folding chairs, picnics…and well-behaved dogs on leads. Tickets: tickettailor.com/events/visitmalton.
Kate Hampson in the title role of The Coppergate Woman, York Theatre Royal’s summer community play
Play of the week: The Coppergate Woman, York Theatre Royal, today until August 7
IN an ever-changing world, how do we hang on to who we are when the grounds are shifting beneath our feet? How do we look forward and rebuild, when the end times feel ever more real? In the heart of York lies a woman with the answers.
Discovered in a shallow pit by the River Foss, the remains of an unknown woman are displayed in a Jorvik Viking Centre glass cage for all to see. Until, one day, the visitors are no more, the city is quiet and the Coppergate Woman rises again in Maureen Lennon’s community play, directed by Juliet Forster and John R Wilkinson with a cast of 90 led by Kate Hampson. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Crowning glory: Annie Stothert’s papier-mâché sculpture at Blossom Street Gallery
Exhibitions of the week: Colourforms, by Fiona Lane and Claire West; Enchanted Forest, by Annie Stothert, Blossom Street Gallery, York
BLOSSOM Street Gallery has two exhibitions running simultaneously until the end of August.
Colourforms presents brightly coloured paintings by York Open Studios mixed-media artist Fiona Lane and “art to make you smile” painter Claire West, from Beverley. Enchanted Forest brings together a highly imaginative collection of papier-mâché sculptures by Annie Stothert, from Yorkshire, inspired by folklore, myth and fairy tales.
Yoshika Colwell: Knitting together music, metaphysics and words in Invisible Mending at the Stilly Fringe
Edinburgh Fringe taster of the week: Yoshika Colwell in Invisible Mending, Stilly Fringe, At The Mill, Stillington, near York, Sunday, 7pm
IN the summer of 2020 as a pandemic raged, Yoshika Colwell was processing the death of her beloved grandmother, Ann. A woman of few words, Ann’s main outlet was her glorious, virtuosic knitting. As she approached the end of her life, Ann started a project with no pattern and no end goal.
Yoshika takes up this piece where Ann left off, creating a show about love, grief and knitting with fellow experimental music/theatre-maker Max Barton, from Second Body. Original music, metaphysics and verbatim material combine to explore the power in small acts of creativity. Box office: atthemill.org.
How they became big in the Seventies: The Osmonds: A New Musical tells the family story in song at the Grand Opera House, York
Musical of the week: The Osmonds: A New Musical, Grand Opera House, York, Tuesday to Saturday
YOU loved them for a reason. Now, for the first time, family drummer Jay Osmond turns his story into a family drama on the musical stage, offering the chance to re-live the ups and downs, the hits and the hysteria of the clean-living Seventies’ boy band from Utah, USA.
Directed by Shaun Kerrison and choreographed by Olivier Award-winning Bill Deamer, this is Jay’s official account of how five brothers born into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints faith were pushed into the spotlight as children on the Andy Williams Show and the hits then flowed, Crazy Horses, Let Me In et al. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.
Christina Aguilera: Biggest American female star to play Scarborough Open Air Theatre since Britney Spears
American superstar grand entrance of the week: Christina Aguilera, supported by Union J, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Tuesday, gates open at 6pm
CHRISTINA Aguilera piles up the Billboard Hot 100 hits, the Grammy awards and the 43 million record sales, to go with the star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the honour of being the only artist under the age of 30 to feature in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 greatest singers of all time.
Add to those accolades her coaching on NBC’s The Voice and her role as a global spokesperson for World Hunger Relief. Tuesday, however, is all about Genie In A Bottle, Beautiful, What A Girl Wants, Dirty and Fighter. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Kate Pettitt: Kate Pettitt: One of the artists taking part in Arnup Studios Summer Open Weekend. Picture: Olivia Brabbs
Open studios of the week: Arnup Studios Summer Open Weekend, Panman Lane, Holtby, near York, August 6 and 7, 10am to 5pm
ARNUP Studios open their countryside doors for a weekend of art, craft and, fingers crossed, summer sunshine.
Once the home and workplace of the late potter and sculptor Mick and Sally Arnup, Arnup Studios are now run by daughter and stoneware potter Hannah, who oversaw their renovation. Liz Foster, Michelle Galloway, Kate Pettitt, Reg Walker, Emma Welsh and Hannah all have working studios there.
All but abstract sculptor Reg of these resident artists will be taking part, showing a mix of painting, print, drawing, ceramics and jewellery. They will be on hand to discuss their work and share processes and techniques with visitors, who are invitated to buy original one-off pieces of art and craft, smaller gifts and cards direct from the makers or simply to browse and enjoy the day.
As well as a small carpark on site, free on-street parking is available in the village. The studios are bike and dog friendly; families are welcome.
WHAT we saw in Austin Butler’s Elvis and Tom Hanks’s Colonel Parker is revealed in Episode 97 of culture vultures Graham Chalmers and Charles Hutchinson’s arts podcast, Two Big Egos In A Small Car.
Under discussion too are: Beatle Paul at 80 at Glastonbury; Graham’s charmed DJ skills on a Knaresborough dancefloor and Chemical Brothers’ thunderous rave at Castle Howard.
The artwork for A Light For Attracting Attention, the debut album by The Smile, alias Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood and Sons Of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner
CHAMERS & Hutch check out Thom Yorke’s Smile. Graham makes Danish news then dissects David Hepworth’s book on the rise and fall of rock’n’roll stars, Uncommon People. Charles demystifies the York Mystery Plays, “on the waggon” for 2022.
Alexander Flanagan Wright, left, Phil Grainger and Megan Drury in The Gods The Gods The Gods at Stillington Mill for four nights. Picture: Tom Figgins
GODS on the Fringe, battling Romans, a riverside market, a Welsh icon and a thirsty Tiger are courting Charles Hutchinson’s attention on the art beat.
Theatre event of the week: Wright & Grainger in The Gods The Gods The Gods, Stilly Fringe, At The Mill, Stillington, near York, tonight, tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday, 8.45pm
ALEXANDER Flanagan Wright and Phil Grainger believe that three is indeed the magic number. Hence The Gods The Gods The Gods as a title for their third triad of myths, spoken word and music after Orpheus and Eurydice, and their first with a third participant, Australian actor, writer and dramaturg, Megan Drury.
Not everything is about threes, however. There will be four stories and 11 tracks in a show full of big beats, soaring melodies and heart-stopping words as Wright & Grainger head to the crossroads where mythology meets real life. Box office: atthemill.org.
Silversmith and jewellery designer Jen Ricketts: One of 42 artists and makers taking part in Ryedale Open Studios. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Art event of the week outside York: Ryedale Open Studios, today, tomorrow, July 30 and 31, 10am to 5pm
FOUNDED by Layla Khoo, Kirsty Kirk and Petra Young, the second Ryedale Open Studios gives visitors the chance to explore the district’s creative talents and skills, ranging from painting, printing, drawing and photography to ceramics, textiles, metalwork and willow weaving.
More than 40 artists are participating in an event organised by Vault Arts Centre. Head to ryedaleopenstudios.com, where a printable map and handbook can be downloaded.
Miles And The Chain Gang: Busy weekend ahead
Miles ahead: Miles And The Chain Gang, Helmsley Arts Centre, tonight, 7.30pm; Harrogate Blues Bar, Montpellier Parade, Harrogate, Sunday, 9pm
YORK poet, radio presenter, festival founder, singer and songwriter Miles Salter and his new line-up of The Chain Gang head to Helmsley and Harrogate this weekend.
Crawling from the swamps of North Yorkshire, with the bit between their teeth and the blues biting at their heels, The Chain Gang will be making their Helmsley debut. Taking their cues from Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Led Zeppelin and early 1980s’ new wave, Salter and co deliver a potent brew of their own tunes as well as classics by Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell and more besides.
“There’s quite a crowd coming to Helmsley but some tickets are available, and you can book online at helmsleyartscentre.co.uk,” says Miles. “Both gigs will feature all the songs we have on YouTube: When It Comes To You, Drag Me To The Light, All Of Our Lives and latest single Love Is Blind, a song played more than 300 times on radio stations in the UK, Europe and USA.” For Harrogate details, head to: bluesbar.co.uk.
What did the Romans ever do for us? Time to find out at the first Malton Museum Roman Festival
Festival of the week: Malton Museum Roman Festival, Sunday, 11am to 3.30pm
MALTON Museum is hosting its inaugural Roman Festival this weekend at the Roman Fort on Orchard Fields.
Live action demonstrations will be staged in the arena by experimental archaeologists Equistry (Roman Cavalry) and re-enactment group Magister Militum will establish a Roman Legionary encampment and engage in battle sequences.
Children can join the Children’s Roman Army, paint shields, create mosaics, try wax tablet drawing and take part in archaeology activities. Tickets: maltonmuseum.co.uk.
Teatime mayhem amid much munching: The Tiger Who Came To Tea tucks in at the Grand Opera House, York
Children’s show of the week: The Tiger Who Came To Tea, Grand Opera House, York, Monday, 2pm; Tuesday and Wednesday, 11am, 2pm
WHAT happens when a Tiger knocks on the door at teatime? You better let Tiger in as the tea guzzler in Judith Kerry’s story returns to the road in this award-winning family show after a West End season.
Expect oodles of magic, singalong songs and clumsy chaos in a stage adaptation full of teatime mayhem and surprises, suitable for age three upwards. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.
Sexbomb alert: Sir Tom Jones soon to hit Scarborough
Knight’s night out of the week: Sir Tom Jones, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Tuesday, gates open at 6pm
PONTYPRIDD powerhouse Sir Tom Jones heads to the Yorkshire coast with another number one album in his pocket, Surrounded By Time, his 41st studio set, no less.
Maybe singles Talking Reality Television Blues, No Hole In My Head, One More Cup Of Coffee and Pop Star from that April 2021 album will feature in the 82-year-old Welshman’s set. The likes of Delilah, Green Green Grass Of Home, It’s Not Unusual, She’s A Lady, You’re My World, What’s New Pussycat?, Kiss and Sexbomb surely will. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Look sharp for a ticket: Joe Jackson welcomes sinners to his very rare York concert on Friday
Rearranged gig of the week: Joe Jackson, Sing, You Sinners! Tour, York Barbican, Friday, 8pm
FAMILIAR foe Covid-19 delayed only the second ever York concert of singer, songwriter and consummate arranger Joe Jackson’s 44-year career, put back from March 17 to July 29.
Better late than never, Jackson promises hits, songs not aired in years and new material, performed in the company of Graham Maby on bass, Teddy Kumpel on guitar and Doug Yowell on drums and electronics.
A mini-solo set is on the cards too in Jackson’s only Yorkshire gig of his European tour; his first York appearance since the Grand Opera House in June 2005. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
A montage of work by artists and makers taking part in this summer’s York River Art Market
York River Art Market, Dame Judi Dench Walk, by Lendal Bridge, River Ouse, York, July 30 and 31; August 6 and 7; August 13 and 14
YORK River Art Market returns for its seventh summer, this time spread over three full weekends. Drawing comparisons with the Left Bank in Paris, this open-air market is free of charge and provides the chance to browse and buy directly from artists showcasing their creative wares along the riverside railings.
Each market will showcase a different variety of 30 artists with the guarantee that no two markets are ever the same. Look out for paintings, prints, jewellery, textiles, glass work, ceramics, maybe even artisan shaving cream (one of last summer’s hit stalls).
The tour poster for Michael Palin’s new travel show, From North Korea Into Iraq, bound for the Grand Opera House, York
Show announcement of the week: Michael Palin, From North Korea Into Iraq, Grand Opera House, York, October 6
MONTY Python comedy legend and intrepid globetrotter Michael Palin will give a first-hand account of his extraordinary journeys through two countries on the dark side of history on his new solo tour this autumn.
Using photos and film, he will recall his challenging adventures in the tightly controlled time bomb of the People’s Republic of North Korea and the bruised land of Iraq, once the home of civilisation, torn apart over the past 30 years by brutal war and bloodshed.
Palin’s theatre tour will be preceded by his new Channel 5 series, Michael Palin: Into Iraq. York tickets: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.
Summer Sizzler season on its way to City Screen Picturehouse, in Coney Street, York
CITY Screen Picturehouse, in York, is reducing ticket prices from July 25 to September 2 in a Summer Sizzler discount offer.
General admission will cost £7.99 – down from the standard £12.50 – for all films; £4.99 for Picturehouse Members.
“This offer includes all the best new blockbusters and family movies, as well as Picturehouse’s curated arthouse line-up and regular screenings of vintage classics,” says general manager Cath Sharp. “We’re also extending these great prices for our weekend of Outdoor Cinema at York Museum Gardens from August 5 to 7. With an unmissable summer of cinema approaching, this offer arrives at the perfect time.”
Among the summer releases heading for City Screen are Where The Crawdads Sing, Olivia Newman’s dramatic adaptation of Delia Owens’ novel, starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, from Friday; David Leitch’s action-thriller Bullet Train, starring Brad Pitt, from August 5, and Jordan Peele’s blockbuster horror movie Nope from August 12.
Daisy Edgar-Jones in Where The Crawdads Sing, opening at City Screen, York, on Friday
The Outdoor Cinema programme will show Ridley Scott’s 40th Anniversary release of Blade Runner (cert 15) on August 5; Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story (12A) on August 6 and a Sing-A-Long screening of Disney’s Encanto (U), directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard, on August 7, all starting at 7.30pm.
In an opportunity to revisit film history, look out for Picturehouse’s reDiscover strand, celebrating the work of German filmmaker Wim Wenders; the Kids In America season, dedicated to 1990s’ American teen movies, and European Summers, a timely toast to the joy of summer holidays on screen in timeless continental favourites.
The Summer Sizzler reductions will extend to families: children’s tickets will be £4.99 and City Screen will continue to offer its Family Ticket deal, where adults pay children’s prices when visiting in a group of four.
Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story: City Screen Outdoor Cinema screening in York Museum Gardens
Admission to City Screen’s mid-morning Kids’ Club shows and a selection of family films over the summer will remain at £3, as will Toddler Time, City Screen’s unique programming strand screening 30 to 40-minute programmes for toddlers. Check listings for more details, advises Cath.
Annual Picturehouse Membership gives visitors up to ten free cinema tickets, along with ten per cent off all food and drinks, invitations to special previews and priority booking for the most popular films and events.
“City Screen also boasts a lively cafe bar with outdoor seating on the river and our menu is bursting with innovative home-made offers, many of them vegan and vegetarian,” says Cath. “The menu can be found on our website.”
NE Musicals York cast members climb aboard a City Sightseeing bus to publicise their upcoming production of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert
AS Madness and Sugababes canter up to York Racecourse, Charles Hutchinson picks his favourites from the upcoming entertainment runners and riders
Musical of the week: NE Musicals York in Priscilla Queen Of The Desert, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, July 20 to 24, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees
CREATIVE director Steve Tearle’s cast of 30 features Finley Butler, Tom Henshaw and Tearle himself as three drag queens who take an epic journey from Sydney to Alice Springs across the Australian outback in their bus Priscilla.
“The journey is full of drama and dance routines but also so many laugh-out-loud moments,” says Tearle. “There’ll be costumes – 300 in total – that have never been seen before in York and the star of the show, the bus, will take your breath away.” Box office: 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
John Cale: Rearranging his gig date at York Barbican
Underground movement of the week: John Cale, York Barbican, from July 19 to October 24, 8pm
VELVET Underground icon John Cale, now 80, is moving his first British itinerary in a decade to the autumn. Tickets for Tuesday – the only Yorkshire gig of his seven-date tour – remain valid for the new date in October.
The Welsh multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer will be performing songs from a pioneering six-decade career that began in classical and avant-garde music before he formed The Velvet Underground with Lou Reed in New York in 1965. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Bob Dylan’s poster for his Rough And Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour, visiting Hull Bonus Arena
Gig announcement of the week: Bob Dylan, Hull Bonus Arena, October 27
BOB Dylan will play Hull Bonus Arena as the only Yorkshire gig of his Rough And Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour 2021-2024 this autumn.
The Nobel Prize-winning American singer, songwriter and cultural icon last visited Britain in 2017 on his Never Ending Tour. This time the focus will be on his 39th studio album, June 2020’s chart-topping Rough And Rowdy Ways, his first set of original songs since 2012’s Tempest. Box office: hurry, hurry, to ticketmaster.co.uk.
Resting up: Tears For Fears’ Scarborough concert is cancelled due to Curt Smith’s rib injury
One on, one off, tonight: cheers for Richard Ashcroft, Sounds Of The City, Leeds Millennium Square; tears for Tears For Fears, Scarborough Open Air Theatre
IN the Leeds outdoors tonight, Richard Ashcroft, frontman of Wigan’s Nineties’ rock gods The Verve, performs songs from his chart-topping band days and solo career in the wake of re-recording his prime work for 2021’s Acoustic Hymns Vol 1. Gates open at 6pm; support slots go to DJ Wayne and Cast. Last few tickets: millsqleeds.com .
Shout, shout, let it all out, these are the things they could do without: Curt Smith’s rib injury has forced Tears For Fears to call off tonight’s gig in Scarborough.
Jane McDonald: Letting the light in at York Barbican
Yorkshire favourite of the week: Jane McDonald: Let The Light In, York Barbican, July 22, 7.30pm
WAKEFIELD singer and television star Jane McDonald plays her long-awaited Let The Light In Show in York, rearranged from the lockdown gloom of 2020.
The BAFTA award-winner, Cruising With presenter and Loose Women panellist will be joined by her band and backing singers for a night of cabaret song, laughter and fabulous dresses. Box office for last few tickets: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Madness this way lies: The Nutty Boys are returning to York Racecourse next Friday
On course for race days: York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, Madness, July 22; Sugababes, July 23
CAMDEN’S Nutty Boys, Madness, return to the Knavesmire track next Friday, having first gone One Step Beyond there in July 2010. Once more Suggs and co will roll out such ska-flavoured music-hall hits as Our House, Baggy Trousers, House Of Fun, Wings Of A Dove, My Girl and Driving In My Car after the evening race card.
The re-formed original Sugababes line-up of Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena and Siobhán Donaghy are next Saturday afternoon’s act. The London girl group last appeared in York as long ago as 2003 with a line-up of Buchanan, Buena and Heidi Range at the Barbican Centre, as was.
Here come Freak Like Me, Round Round, Hole In The Head, Push The Button, Walk This Way and About You Now et al. Tickets: yorkracecourse.co.uk.
Going Round Round: Sugababes, as well as the horses on the track, at York Racecourse
Low-key festival of the week: Crawfest, Partings Lane, Ebberston, YO13 9PA, off A170, July 22 and 23, noon to midnight
THE line-up is in place for Crawfest, the family-friendly music festival held on farmland near Pickering, in memory of Alan Crawford, a friend of the organisers, who lost his life to Covid in 2020.
Next Friday will be headlined by The House We Built (9.40pm), preceded by Edwina Hayes (2pm); Paint Me In Colour (3.20pm); Nalgo Bay (4.20pm); Sean Taylor (5.30pm); Breeze (6.50pm) and Friday Street (8.10pm).
Next Saturday’s bill toppers will be Big Me (9.40pm), preceded by Kelsey Bovey (12 noon); Bongoman & The Bongomaniacs (1pm); Danny MacMahon (2pm); Beetlebug (3.15pm); Rocketsmith (4.10pm); Nalgo Bay (5.30pm); Red Box (6.50pm) and The Feens (8.10pm). Box office: tickettailor.com/events/crawfest/641880.
Anne-Marie Piazza and Pete Ashmore in rehearsal for Brief Encounter at the SJT. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Romance of the summer: Emma Rice’s Brief Encounter, in The Round, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, July 22 to August 27
SJT artistic director Paul Robinson directs this new co-production of Emma Rice’s playful adaptation of Noel Coward’s Brief Encounter, presented in tandem with Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, and Octagon Theatre, Bolton.
Rice turns Coward’s film inside out, adding joyous musical numbers and physical comedy while still maintaining the classic love story of the 1945 black-and-white original, where Laura and Alec are married – but not to each other – when a chance meeting at a railway station hurls them headlong into a whirlwind romance that threatens to blow their worlds apart. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
